


that old black magic

by abovetheruins



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 15:37:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2275209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abovetheruins/pseuds/abovetheruins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not like David's trying to <i>broadcast</i> the fact that he's a witch, okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	that old black magic

**Author's Note:**

> charmed!au for cookleta fic train

It's not like David's trying to  _broadcast_  the fact that he's a witch, okay. It's just - it's  _Halloween_ , the one night of the year when his powers are really at their strongest, when it feels as if casting even the most complicated spells would be a piece of cake, when he can feel his magic just, like,  _thrumming_  through him.  
  
And then there's the freedom of it - there are witches  _everywhere_  (not any real ones, so far as David can tell he's the only one in his town) and no one gives him a second look if he goes around in a robe and carries a broomstick (the robes just for show, actually - he thinks he'd look pretty weird carrying a broom in plain street clothes, so.)  
  
And it's just... He spends the entire year being so  _careful_ , only practicing his incantations in the house, never casting any spells outside where anybody can see. He never even  _flies_ anymore, not after too many close calls, and it's not like there's really any place he could go, nowhere isolated enough that he could fly without worrying about any prying eyes.  
  
So it's not entirely his fault that he let down his guard, okay. He thought he was  _alone_. Most of the kids were out trick-or-treating on the other side of town, the older kids at the Halloween party being held in the city- he'd gone to the high school because he knew no one would be there (it' just - the football field is  _enormous_ , it's the perfect place to fly, and it's been so long since he's done it David almost doubts he'll even remember how it goes).  
  
He's so excited about just  _going_ , just launching himself into the sky that he doesn't even think, doesn't bother to look around the field (but the lights are off, no one's here, it's just him) before he shucks off his robe and swings one leg over his broom, closing his eyes to concentrate and kicking off the ground with his sneakers and then -  _there_ , that's it, he's laughing as he's lifting himself further and further into the air and it's chilly and familiar and  _exhilarating_ -  
  
"Holy shit!"  
  
David nearly plummets off his broomstick at the sound of that voice, has to grip the handle and pull up hard before he nosedives into the ground, his heart pounding with fear. He can't - he thought he was  _alone_ , oh my gosh, and that's  _Cook_  down there, standing in the shadows of the bleachers watching him with wide eyes, and  _what the heck is he doing here?_  
  
David's mumbling a series of terrified, "Oh gosh, oh  _gosh_ ," trying to figure out what he should do - should he just, should he take off, or go down or - ? What were the chances that Cook would actually forget about this?  
  
 _Zero_ , he thinks, this close to falling off his broom from panic alone, breath rushing past his lips in foggy white bursts. He's just about to take his chances and fly away when Cook calls up to him.  
  
"Hey! You're... you're David, aren't you? Archuleta?" He doesn't wait for an answer, just waves his hands in a 'come here' gesture. "You can - you can come down. I mean, if you, uh, if you want to."   
  
And  _dang it_ , this is horrible, this is the worst possible thing that could happen to him and it's all his fault, he shouldn't have even gone out, he should have listened to his father and just stayed in.

He floats limply to the ground, feet feeling like lead as they hit the earth. He can't bring himself to look at Cook right now (he knows him, sees him in the hallways and the lunchroom and around town - the senior who shares his name and sings in a band and has tons of friends, who's actually said hey to David sometimes, waving at him as they pass each other at school, who David maybe kind of would have liked to get to know better, would have liked - well, that's all over now, now that's Cook seen him).  
  
"I, um. I don't - could you not- " He swallows around the lump in his throat, hands tight around his broomstick. "Could you not tell anyone about... about me? Please?" He feels hot and uncomfortable and almost ashamed, like he's been caught doing something wrong and that's just - that's not how it's supposed to be, he's never felt this way, not about his  _magic_ , okay, never about that, and now he feels so -  
  
"I won't tell."  
  
And huh? David blinks slowly, finally raising his eyes from the vicinity of his sneakers and looking at Cook, who's - smiling, really big and bright and, well. He stutters out a "W-what?" and hopes that the heat in his cheeks is hidden by the darkness of the field.  
  
"I said," Cook repeats, grinning even wider now, "that I won't tell."  
  
"You won't?" Could David really be that lucky? "You really won't?"  
  
"Nah." Cook claps him on the shoulder - it's a mark of how surprised David is that he doesn't even flinch. "On one condition, though."  
  
And oh,  _oh_ , this is the part David's been dreading, of course Cook would want something in exchange for keeping his secret (he just hopes it's nothing too embarrassing, or horrible, or something).  
  
Cook glances at the broomstick David's still holding, eyes drifting towards the sky with a look of absolute wide-eyed astonishment on his face. "Could you... do that? Again?"  
  
David stares. "You mean... Fly?"  
  
"Yeah, that." And wow, Cook's eyes are really bright and amazed and, really nice, actually. "Man, that was - that was fucking  _amazing_."  
  
And just like that, David feels that old familiar feeling coming back to him, the sense of pride he has in his magic, that happy, satisfied feeling - any lingering sense of shame is completely erased as he smiles and kicks off into the sky.


End file.
